


The Extraordinarily Disappointing Fragrance of Cheese

by SillyBlue



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beta Sam Winchester, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M, Misunderstandings, Omega Castiel (Supernatural), Omega Castiel/Alpha Dean Winchester, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, The Curse of Greasy Diners, vaguely established relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 04:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SillyBlue/pseuds/SillyBlue
Summary: When Metatron banishes Castiel from Heaven, leaving him human and many hours away from the Bunker, Dean tells him to seek shelter and wait. In the 6 days following his fall, Castiel learns a lot of things; that humans need money, that being an omega was somehow more relevant than being male, and that if he and Dean were to be mates, pleasant scents were mandatory. But then Dean shows up at the Omega Shelter, beautiful and charming as ever, and… Cas doesn't like his scent.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 45
Kudos: 569





	The Extraordinarily Disappointing Fragrance of Cheese

**Author's Note:**

> I'm Swiss, it's not in my nature to badmouth cheese. But I came home from a sophisticated night at the theater (okay, it was a school play) to my apartment reeking of cheese. My sister had a Fondue with her friend and my parents. If you're familiar with Fondue you know that it takes a particular kind witchcraft to dispel the smell of molten cheese.
> 
> And somehow me laying awake at night, trying not to breathe, led to this fic. It's meant to be humorous. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> A note on the setting: This is set after some kind of alternative ending of S8 where Metatron was defeated, but his last act of villainy was to banish Cas to earth. Sam is tired but healthy.

Castiel's existence spanned billions of years, enough for him to have seen and experienced an arguably rich collection of all things there were to be seen and experienced. At least, if you judged the wealth of experiences and his vast knowledge by angelic standards.

Now, thrown down to earth, he was forced to remember and experience sensations that he had only briefly brushed before. The feeling of impact, sharp, removing all air from his lungs, the shocking burn of scratched open palms and knees. As a soldier who had embodied humans for at least some of his missions, he was no stranger to bleeding, no stranger to all the pain a body could feel. But angels took no particular notice of pain that only went as deep as their vessel. It was pain, but Castiel had felt it like one felt the sensation of wind on one's skin. Removed. Detached, to some degree.

Cas was human now and as he was sitting in a plastic chair of an appalling color (which was odd for him to even notice, Castiel had rarely had any kind of opinion on colors) he was disgruntled to learn that the way a human nervous system experienced pain wasn’t even the worst of it all.

Hunger and thirst, that had been unsettling, bodily functions had been odd but expected. But… the weird clammy feeling of the overheated room, how the warmth of other bodies in the crowded entrance hall seemed to be pressing in on him, made Castiel squirm uneasily in the chair. And the smells…!

Nothing had quite prepared him for the smells. Dean and Sam had often commented on what their noses were telling them, using their sense of smell to make sense of the world as much as they used their eyes and touch. Cas was a celestial being, so of course he took note of smells no differently than he used his other senses. And he could smell things that humans definitely couldn't comprehend. He knew the chemical composition of odors, but he never took notice of it with a human nose. And now he crossly regretted the fact that he even had a nose.

The scent in the men's shelter he had found for the night based on Dean's recommendation ("It'll take us a while to reach you. And it's better than sleeping on a park bench, buddy") was simply monstrous. The mix of it all seemed to force its way down Castiel's nose and lodged uncomfortably in the back of his throat, bitter and sharp and salty and acidic and just plain _foul_. As the men moved around him, some shooting him looks, their expressions hard to read for Cas, the smells swirled and Cas' head with it. The memory in the human brain he now reluctantly possessed, flashed him unbidden information: gasoline, cold cigarette ash, cheese, hot dog, vomit, urine, alcohol. Some people smelled more intense, like the man who was lingering in the periphery of Cas' awareness, occasionally shooting him looks. Somehow scent emitted from him like heatwaves, not unsimilar to the steam from the coffee pot that sat on the counter next to the man processing the people in the entrance of the shelter. Somehow what Cas' brain supplied to him wasn't only a description of scent (stale sweat, some kind of biting remnants of deodorant) but also aggression, irritation. Cas didn't know why but he instinctively knew that this man was an alpha and that Cas should be cautious. He didn't know why exactly, since Cas – human or not – was still exceptionally skilled in combat and could overwhelm this man if needed. But still, he felt himself draw up his shoulders, looking anywhere but at the man and that dreadful wall of scent.

"Hey. You're up." Castiel looked up when he felt someone approach and saw that the counter up front was empty and the dude there was tapping his pen against his coffee cup impatiently. Castiel got up, mindful not to use his scratched-up hands too much to propel himself out of the uncomfortable chair. Somehow the scent of the man seemed to become a bit more focused and gained a new edge. He looked over his shoulder and saw the man eye him up. Castiel, unsettled and tired as he was, wondered if he should be gearing up to a fight. But then a cough had him reluctantly take his eyes off the potential threat behind him. It was uncomfortable, to not be aware what happened behind him. He missed broader awareness. And he missed not having a human nose.

Because the man in front was a weird mix of sweet apples, something chemically spicy, coffee and alpha boredom. But that boredom quickly turned to alert when he looked Cas up and down. The man was older, somehow in the range Bobby had been, and he didn't emit scent like the alpha back in the corner did. He wasn't wearing it as a threat, he didn't… stink up the place. That was the phrase Dean had used before. Some alphas stunk up a place, so that nobody forgot that they were there because they wanted to assert some form of dominance.

"Hello. I would like a place to sleep," Cas said, unsure what to make of the man's now carefully blank expression. His mouth was hidden under his mustache (that oddly looked similar to the kind of bristled cleaning utensils Dean and Sam used on their muddy boots) but the mustache was twitching along with the man's nose. Maybe Castiel was doing this wrong. Dean hadn't been very forthcoming with information when he had said to "catch a nap at the men's shelter". Maybe this involved some complicated human ritual first. Or, Cas pondered this with disappointment, a money transaction.

"Right… I think you got the wrong shelter, boy," the man said and then he reached out to the phone next to him, picking up the receiver and punching in some numbers.

"But… this is the men's shelter, is it not?" The man shot him something of a distracted nod but the way he lifted his eyebrows at him seemed to suggest some form of complicated nonverbal communication. Cas had never been good at communication, even when he still had had all his angelic capacities.

"Hey," the man said into the phone, "got room for one? Male omega." Cas curiously tilted his head at him. "Aha. Good. Thanks." The man turned back to the window, his expression bordering on kind, but the boredom hadn't lifted much. Castiel had the distinct feeling that what was such an extraordinary experience for himself, was just another evening for the alpha. Castiel wasn't quite human enough to be envious of being so comfortable with confusing human interactions, but he was close.

"We shelter alpha men as well and we don't want any more trouble than necessary. There's a mixed omega shelter not far from here and they've got room for you." The man handed over a little pamphlet that had a map on the back. Then he was dismissed.

Cas left the shelter, with directions and a sense of puzzlement. He took a deep breath as he stepped out into the chilly air. It smelled so much better out here, even though the nasty taste of the place, especially of that one brooding alpha, still lingered on the back of his tongue.

Castiel didn't understand properly why he had chosen the wrong shelter. Angels didn't experience sex, gender or designation, though he was aware of what his vessel was – what _he_ now was. At least until he could find a way to get his Grace back. His penis was, as human convention dictated, hidden by his clothing, so it was his outwards appearance that let other people know he was male by complicated rules and conventions that were utterly irrelevant to Cas. Since his omega reproductive organs were internal, it must have been his scent that let the alpha at the desk know that he would prefer to send him to another shelter. One for omegas. It seemed that his designation was more relevant than his sex (or whatever humans decided his gender was), so Castiel filed that piece of information away in his mind.

But Cas had been sent to a men's shelter, peculiar that Dean, in all his experience of being human (male and alpha), hadn’t taken this into consideration. Maybe where Dean was from, the system was different. Humans were irritatingly inconsistent about pretty much everything after all.

While Castiel made his way to the omega shelter, he gave himself a little sniff, trying to figure out what his scent must be like. But he couldn't really smell much apart from the uncomfortable scent of his damp clothes that struggled to dry in the cold, but wet air. If that was his actual scent, the one he knew alphas and omegas could pick out easily, but betas rarely did, he considered that slightly unfortunate. But he guessed that maybe he would smell better once his clothes were dry.

* * *

The reason Dean had told Cas to wait in a shelter in the nearest town was because he fell to earth a long journey away from the Bunker without any money on him. It was hard to exist as a human without any money at all, a lesson that took almost no time at all for Cas to learn.

Everything seemed to be conditional in the world of humans, at least as he experienced the world of humans condensed in how it operated in the omega shelter. Most of the omegas came and went, usually just staying to grab free soup for dinner and sleep at night or early in the morning.

"You can stay, if you make no trouble," the woman who led the shelter told him, the scent coming off of her letting Cas' nose know that she was a beta, her scent oddly powdery and artificial smelling.

"We rarely have male omegas here. It's always a risk to run a mixed shelter and I can use no trouble. If you don't keep it in your pants then you're out," she added, another condition to her offer for shelter.

"Keep what in my pants…?" Castiel asked exhausted by all the riddles humans wove into their communication. The woman looked at him oddly, but then they reached an open doorway, behind it Cas could see bunk beds, none of which were currently occupied.

"This is where you'll sleep. Don't bring anyone else from outside up. This part is off limit to the omega girls and you're off limits from wandering into the female dorms, alright?"

"Okay," Cas said. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. Tomorrow morning you're on kitchen duty. You want to stay? You earn your keep," she said sharply, her voice carrying a warning with it. Cas had been a soldier long enough to not bat an eye at orders.

"That's very reasonable," he said and the woman got that look on her face again. In the end she handed him a pamphlet, a satchel, then she clapped him roughly on his shoulder before leaving.

Castiel took the bag into the dormitory. He sat down on one of the beds. There was a slight but persistent feel of unease inside him. He shouldn't worry too much. He had a bed to sleep in and if he did work around the shelter, he could stay until Dean came to pick him up. He just hoped that Dean would come find him. Cas had no more money to spare for phone calls to let Dean know where exactly he was. But Dean knew the town and Cas supposed that there was a finite amount of shelters for Dean to check out. It would be fine.

* * *

Three days later and Cas was still ill at ease and he predominantly blamed it on his nose. The scents in the common areas weren't much better than those in the waiting room at the men's shelter had been. That was until Cara, the head of the shelter, handed Cas a spray bottle and a bucket of other cleaning utensils.

"You're on cleaning duty today, Cassie," she said. Castiel looked down at the bucket. "What? You never complain if I give you a job, are you gonna start now?"

"No, I won't. But I haven't done it before," he said. Cara snorted at that, but after her eyes had flitted over Cas' face her expression softened.

"One of the sheltered ones, are you?" A voice that suspiciously sounded like Dean hissed _lie_ in the back of his head.

"My family… didn't encourage my interactions with people outside of the family…," he said uneasily. He didn't like lying but there was no way he could talk about heaven freely.

"Yeah well, you'll get the hang of it eventually," Cara said, "just use the scent neutralizer liberally." She winked, then she left the common room. Castiel looked at the spray bottle and gave it an experimental sniff. It did smell like laundry detergent in some way. Castiel sprayed it around him and soon enough the strong scents that had pressed in on him from the common room simmered down. Interesting.

* * *

Cas had diligently set himself to clean all the areas which weren't off limits to him as a male omega, and later on under Cara's watchful eyes also the rooms which were off limits, not just to him but most other omegas too. The heat rooms, as Cara declared them, were the worst. The smell – Cas couldn't quite call it a stench, because for some puzzling reason it was not entirely unpleasant – nearly made him back out right away after Cara had unlocked the door. It looked like a hospital room in a way.

"It was in use until recently. We don't want to open the windows to flush out the smell too early because it could attract people," Cara explained, but she kept herself out of the room, casually leaning against the doorframe. Castiel knew that she wasn't able to smell just how bad it was in here.

"People?" Castiel asked, then he approached the bed, that seemed to be the center of the strong smell. Cara tossed him a bag and Castiel dutifully stripped the sheets.

"Toss everything inside. Those get cleaned professionally to remove all traces of slick and scent," Cara explained. "And Alphas. This is an omega shelter. Horny alphas are always sniffing around the perimeter. Doesn't help that some of the omegas take the chance to make them clients." Castiel frowned and shot Cara a look after he had stuffed all the sheets into the bag. "Prostitution, Cas. We don't encourage it and we certainly don't allow it in the shelter, but we can't tell you what to do. And we see a lot of desperate omegas here. No home, no job, but being alive costs money," Castiel knew that there was an unvoiced question hidden in her words.

"I suppose so."

"You don't have any home to go to? No job?" Cara wondered as Castiel worked. "You're good looking and you're unmated are you? That makes it harder for you out there. Alphas will come sniffing around you and I'm sure they'll make offers." Castiel didn't like that idea, especially not if he thought back to the alpha at the men's shelter. How repulsive his scent had been, how unsettling.

"I called my friend after I was cast out… He promised to pick me up…" Cara lifted her eyebrow in surprise. For some reason an uncomfortable sensation spread in Cas' chest. "I know it's been a couple of days, but its' a long drive." Dean would come. Cara's expression softened.

"Sure. Make sure to clean up properly. I'll see you at dinner."

* * *

Castiel couldn't do more in the shelter than wait and do his best to earn his keep. The shelter offered programs to help them find work and housing, but Cas wasn't interested in those, even after the employees had assured him he would be better off trying.

"You're mighty sure that this friend of yours will provide for you," one of the other omegas said. Castiel didn't know her name, but she was maybe around his vessel's age. Usually the other omegas in the shelter avoided him. According to Cara this was just how it was. Cas didn't understand why, but he didn't think it necessary to ask. He didn't mind being left alone. Sure, he got bored now, a sensation that was very peculiar to him, but it was alright.

"Uh, yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your friend an omega too?" she wondered, without offering up her name. Castiel didn't pay much attention to those things, but Dean was the kind of man who sometimes talked about himself with a certain pride in his designation and sex, so it had been hard to miss.

"He's an alpha." The woman squinted at him and Cas read her scent as disapproving. It was still weird to him how he could read disapproval out of the slightly spicy scent coming off her. He guessed this was simply natural, even though it was bizarre.

"An alpha. And you trust him?" Castiel nodded, puzzled by her distaste. "Don't you think he's just using you? An omega down on his luck is pretty easy prey for an alpha. Even if you're friends."

"Prey…?" Sure, Dean was a hunter and Cas was – _used to be_ – a supernatural creature up until recently. "Dean's not interested in hunting me." The woman's expression morphed from incredulous to understanding, almost pitying.

"You should be careful when trusting alphas, that's all."

"I trust Dean completely. We have been through much together…," he said, allowing himself a small smile. "He's a good man. One of the best."

"Oh," the woman said, taken by surprise. "Is Dean your mate?" Castiel tilted his head. "Sorry, just… the way your scent changed when you talked? Just… contentment. Joy even?" Castiel looked at her, then he turned his head slightly to sniff at his shoulder. The woman laughed. "You're pretty weird."

"I… suppose so," he said and then he straightened up. "My name is Cas. What is yours?"

"Miriam," she said. "And this Dean…?"

"Oh. I don't know…?" Castiel wasn't entirely sure what being mates meant for humans in this century.

"You don't have a claiming bite, so I guessed not… No offense, but you come across as pretty… sheltered. Like you're new to this all. You look like you're… I don't know… early, mid 30s?" Castiel wasn't sure what to say to that so he merely shrugged. "Your family must have really kept you on a tight leash. I know how those things go sometimes, with male omegas… female alphas… Society is freaking weird, man."

"Yes, I agree… Dean taught me many things, but…" Castiel sighed. "I don't know. Things are different now… Everything feels different. But I'm sure he will be a great teacher."

"Do you like his scent?" Miriam wondered, a question that took Cas by surprise.

"Why do you ask?"

"What do you mean why do I ask? Your scent before was pretty clear, you're totally smitten. You can't tell me you don't have an opinion about his scent!"

"Oh I… Actually I haven't really… smelled him before…"

"Ah, you must have been on heavy duty blockers… Man, those suck. I was on them shortly. Totally fucked me up. Couldn't smell a damn thing for an entire cycle," Miriam moaned, her expression sympathetic.

"Yes… scents are… peculiar," he said, glad that he could speak freely about his unsettling experience with smells for once. "Is it important that I like Dean's scent?"

"Duh? You'll find it hard to be around him if you don't like his scent. And it's pretty likely that if you don't like his scent then he won't like yours either. And then you can forget being mates. Biology is stupid that way." Cas took in this new information with a sense of apprehension. He wasn't sure why exactly it was important to him that he actually liked Dean's scent. When he was still an angel his devotion to Dean and his love for him were unwavering. Castiel had simply assumed that his angelic love would be replicated in whatever way humans could love each other. He wasn't entirely sure about Dean's emotions for him, considering that Dean was the kind of man who didn't like to talk about it, but he was pretty sure that what they felt for each other was mutual. Purgatory and the time after that, before things went bad, had seen shared kisses and something Dean called "making out" or "messing around". They had always remained mostly clothed, grinding on each other in the little privacy they had. Of course, Cas had still been an angel then and his orgasms, however agreeable, didn't match Dean's enjoyment of them at all. All in all, it had been enjoyable, but it had mostly been messy. And while Cas had taken notice of intensity of Dean's scent during those moments, he was slightly apprehensive of how he would experience it now. The alphas he had had the misfortune of smelling made it difficult to imagine him enjoying another orgasm. Unless Dean was different. Unless he smelled nice.

Castiel was surprised to find just how much he hoped that Dean smelled nice. Humans were wired to work a particular way and if what Miriam said was true, then Dean and his relationship was doomed if Dean's smell didn't appeal to him.

"What if… What if I don't enjoy his scent?" he asked, his voice coming out small and uncertain in ways that unsettled Cas almost even more than his question. He had been human for mere days, wavering already this early on was embarrassing.

"Then it's probably not meant to be…" Miriam said. All of a sudden Castiel dreaded meeting Dean almost as much as he longed to see him again.

* * *

Six days after Metatron had banished Cas from heaven, and after five days of him living in the mixed omega shelter, Dean finally found him.

"There's a man looking for you. Dean Winchester. Says he's here to pick you up," Cara announced when Cas was elbows deep in a toilet. She looked at him funny when he stared at her, his wildly contradictory emotions rooting him to the spot while he tried to untangle them. He was nervous but he also felt like his heart could beat out of his chest. "Oh boy," she eventually said and left him to his own devices. Castiel quickly finished his task, then he rushed to clean himself up, scrubbing the weird soapy scent off his hands. He had no possessions he wanted to get and Miriam had moved on yesterday night. Cara clapped him on his back and gave him a thumbs up as a good-bye and then Cas was out through the doors. The scent out here was almost a shock again, mostly because in the omega shelter there had always been either too much of it or none at all. Both were disquieting. But out here he could taste the air.

And then there was Dean, hands put into his pocket, leaning against the car. Sam was there too, smiling over the hood of the car, giving a small wave. Dean's expression was more guarded and Cas was aware of how Dean studied him from head to toe. Castiel gathered his nerves. He was still an angel (even if he was temporarily human). He never backed down from a fight and this wasn't even that. This was a pleasant reunion. And he loved Dean, he was certain of it, his heart swelling at his sight, at the small smile starting at the corner of Dean's mouth. Cas would love his scent, he was sure of it. It would only confirm what Cas already knew.

"You could have given us a warning. We checked every shelter and homeless camp twice!" Dean said by way of greeting but he was grinning now.

"A warning?"

"We didn't know you were an omega, Cas. I mean, I suggested it but somehow it never went into Dean's thick head. We spent the morning in a greasy diner, trying to figure out what else to do, when Dean finally agreed to ask around the omega shelters!" Sam explained with a cheerful smile.

"I'm sorry," Castiel said, still not quite close enough to scent Dean. "I also only learnt that it was relevant when I showed up at the men's shelter." Dean's mouth twitched at that and finally Cas was closing in on him.

"Sad I missed it," Dean said with a laugh and then there was a bit of a red color to his cheeks. "Good to have you back, man." Dean lifted his arm and pulled him a bit close to pat his shoulder properly. It wasn't the hug that Cas had secretly hoped for, but then again, Dean had always been slightly less affectionate when Sam was around. But it was enough for a scent to carry over to Cas. One scent and one scent alone.

Cheese.

Castiel blanched, the greasy, strangely spicy scent settling in his nose and making him swallow uneasily. Dean sniffed slightly, but otherwise didn't say anything to him. But he smiled gently.

"Come on, get in. We'll go home." Cas automatically mimicked the smile out of reflex, but his brain was painfully blank. And he was… exhausted all of a sudden.

"You okay, Cas?" Sam asked when Dean had shot Cas a couple of worried glanced until he had to drive and could no longer look back.

"Oh… yes… It was just… weird in the shelter. I'll be fine."

The smell was strong in the small space of the impala, but he could pick out more scents now, almost none of them pleasant; almost all of them greasy. Castiel pressed his nose into the leather of the backseat. At least the leather wasn't horrible.

"Yeah, I guess. But we'll take you home now. You'll feel better I no time," Sam promised. Castiel sighed.

* * *

This was horrible. Castiel almost couldn't believe that he found Dean's scent disagreeable. What did this mean about them? Miriam had said that they couldn't be compatible if they didn't like each other's scent. On top of that she was sure that if Cas didn't like Dean's scent then that must mean that Dean must dislike _his_ scent as well. And that thought filled Cas to the brim with shame and dread.

He didn't know why he was so upset but human emotions were ridiculous and confusing so he couldn't do anything but just letting them happen reluctantly.

They stopped at a motel once it started getting dark.

"Okay. I'm gonna get us two rooms. You okay with that, Sam?" Cas looked up at Dean's voice, which sounded almost shy. But nothing about the – now slightly stale – cheese and greasy diner food scent had changed. Couldn't Cas even pick up the nuances of Dean's feelings? Or was Dean simply not one of those alphas that projected them as much?

"Of course," Sam said and then he got out of the car once Dean had left for the reception. Cas hesitated but after a while he got out too. He breathed in a sigh of relief when he could smell something else for a change. But then he noticed the uncomfortable crick in his neck from keeping his nose buried into the leather seat.

"Are you okay…? Dean told me what happened with Metatron… You must be pretty shaken up," Sam said, his voice gentle. Sam was a beta, Cas knew that, so he wasn't too surprised that there was no particular scent coming off him, but Dean's own clinging to him from being in his vicinity so much.

"Yes… How about you? Dean said the trials shook you up pretty badly…" Cas found it easer to push his own worries aside for the moment and studied the younger Winchester. He looked tired, but otherwise fine.

"Yeah… Yeah they did, but I didn't go through with the last trial… It wasn't pleasant letting the magical charge up run out of me, but… well… A couple of hours of sleep and I think I'll be good as new."

"I think it will need more than just a bit of sleep," Castiel said because he knew how demanding those spells were from his own experience now. He had been a fool to trust Metatron as long as he did. Sam chuckled.

"Are you okay though… with being human?" The question had Cas tense up. Sam sighed and lifted his hands. "Forgot I asked. It was a bad question… Let's just… all get some more sleep and figure this out later." Castiel nodded gratefully. He really didn't want to think too much about anything right now.

Dean came back with keys a moment later, guiding Cas to their room. He wasn't sure why this brought new nerves to him. Dean dropped his bag on the table, closing the door and then sighing as he stretched. After that he studied Cas.

"An omega, huh…? Can't say that I saw that one coming," Dean said, but before Cas could worry about this being another failure to put on the pile of things to be sad about, Dean started to grin. "Kinda awesome. I never could smell you properly. You just smelled… otherworldly, like a storm, but I could never read you. But now…"

Dean approached and Cas panicked. He took a step back before he could think about it, suddenly terrified of having to see Dean's expression when he scented him and realized he hated his smell. It was only a small, involuntary reaction but Dean stopped at once, his eyes widening.

"Cas…?"

"I…" Cas stammered, but he didn't know how to continue, trying to process his emotions. And apparently he wasn't able to pull himself together fast enough, because Dean's expression became pinched. He looked kind of in pain before his face darkened.

"Why don't you take a shower?"

A dreadful feeling burned low in Cas' stomach, fear and shame mingling into a nauseating mix. It was too late, Cas hadn't stepped back far enough, Dean must have scented him anyway.

"I… I don't know if… I just…" Dean's frown deepened, so Castiel let his shoulders slump and nodded. "Of course."

"Cas… Nothing's gonna happen. Just… relax. Take a shower," he said, his voice sounding drawn. Castiel felt shame burn in his cheeks, so he turned around without another word, getting to the shower.

"Wait. You need a spare change of clothes," Dean said, turning to rummage through his duffle bag until he produced some clothing. He held it out to Cas, but he stopped himself before he approached and ended up throwing them for Cas to catch clumsily. The dreadful feeling in his stomach was just getting worse.

"Okay…" Cas said and retreated into the bathroom.

* * *

Castiel couldn't help the two or three frustrated tears slipping free, but he wiped them away carelessly. This wasn't necessary. He had no reason to be so upset. It was like Miriam had said; Dean didn't like his scent. It was alright. They could still be friends, maybe even family. Just not… mates. Maybe they didn't need to be mates as it had never even come up before. But what if Dean didn't want to kiss either? What if… what if Cas couldn't?

It was frustrating and it was unfair but Cas couldn't change it. He just had to find a way to be an angel again. Then scents would just go back to being a vague concept for Cas. It would all go back to normal.

Dean looked grim when Cas got out of the shower and even grimmer when Cas kept out of his way, choosing to sit down at the table instead of on the bed next to Dean.

"Great, good talk," he muttered, but then he got up and went to the bathroom, the door slamming shut. Castiel breathed in deeply. But his sadness was momentarily brushed aside by a faint trace of a nice smell. He pulled at his shirt and gave it a sniff. Ah yes, there it was. Cas couldn't quite pinpoint it. Maybe it was the detergent? It smelled nice, comforting.

The day had been exhausting and this smell calming in ways no smell had been yet, so Cas soon was almost dozing off.

Just to have Dean gave him a little shake. Cas jerked up, startled, then he looked at Dean, who had both his hands lifted.

"Easy. I just…" Dean stopped, his face scrunching up, his scent distressed, before he sighed in resignation. "It's late… I can pick something up for us to eat. But you wanted a separate room? Or share with Sam?" Castiel blinked up at Dean, confusion clouding his mind. The agreeable scent of the detergent was still there, but it was much stronger now and it clung to Dean. It was like the scent of the forest in autumn, refreshing, comforting. But Dean's disappointment dimmed it somewhat.

Castiel gasped and jumped up, making Dean startle.

"I can smell your disappointment…!" he said in awe, almost breathless. Dean's shoulder immediately came up and his face hardened, clearly embarrassed and feeling exposed. But before Dean could retort something, Cas sniffed loudly, which brought a deep red color to Dean's cheeks.

"What the hell are-"

"Where's the cheese smell?" Cas asked. Dean started at him. "Your scent! It was cheese and grease before! Why…" After a while Dean's confused expression smoothed out and he rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious, Cas? You thought I smell like cheese and grease?" he snapped.

"I… I thought… One of the omegas at the shelter said I had to like your scent and if I didn't then you wouldn't like mine. And I wanted us to be compatible, but your scent was…"

"Cheese," Dean said flatly and Cas nodded.

"It was cheese. Greasy cheese." Dean rubbed his palm over his hand.

"I can't even make fun of you for that, because you're new to all of this," he muttered.

"I never appreciate you making fun of me," Castiel said with a frown, but then Dean let his hand drop and there was an incredulous expression on his face.

"Cheese, Cas. Really? _Cheese_?!" But even as he said that he lifted his arm, a vague invitation for Cas to approach.

"That's all I could smell coming from you, and in the Impala too…," he said in his defense, but then he was in Dean's arms, pressing his nose to his neck instinctively and breathed in deeply. And there it was, that wonderful, comforting scent that Cas could just drown in. He could smell that Dean was still uneasy, but it was dissolving quickly.

"Damn it, Cas. And I thought…," he said, but he didn't finish the sentence, bending down to scent Cas too, his nose gently brushing against Cas' forehead, then travelling down. It almost tickled, but it was also feeling like a great relief when Dean's scent became content.

"You smell amazing," Dean said.

"As do you," Castiel told him, happy when Dean's arms came to wrap around him.

They were still hugging when Sam poked his head into the room.

"Uh… are you guys alright?" Dean withdrew a bit, his face tinged pink but the embarrassment he felt was minor, at least that's what Cas' nose led him to belief.

"Sam, can you believe this idiot? He thought I smelled like cheese!" Sam looked from Dean to Cas, his face carefully blank.

"Well… You did. That diner was disgusting. I don't know what that molten cheese smell was but it was everywhere," Sam said. Dean rolled his eyes. "You mean he thought it was your scent?"

"Yeah," Dean laughed and even Sam had to grin a bit.

"I didn't smell anything else," Cas muttered, annoying that they were both laughing about something that had caused him so much distress.

"I was wearing scent blockers, Cas. Most alphas and omegas do. We don't need everyone sticking their noses where they don't belong," Dean explained. Cas looked up at him, surprised.

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. But you're forgiven, because we made you wait an extra day because we had no idea that you were an omega. I think we're even."

"But… does that mean that we're compatible? That we can be mates?" Castiel asked. And all at once Dean's embarrassed scent was back in full force, but there was also something else hiding underneath, something like excitement and joy.

"Ooooookay. Alright. I think I'm just gonna go grab us something to eat. Anyone up for salad? Okay. Good-bye," Sam said, quickly disappearing and closing the door behind himself.

"What's wrong with Sam?" But instead of answering, Dean started laughing. And he sounded so happy that Cas couldn't help smiling too.

"What's so funny?" Cas wondered, his voice low, so as not to disturb the beautiful sound of Dean's laughter.

"Nothing," Dean assured him, then he pulled Cas close, kissing him.

Cas didn't know how he knew, but there was a promise in that kiss.

"Cheese, man. I can't believe it," Dean muttered against Cas' lips, but Cas decided to stop him from talking by kissing again. And Dean was on board with that.

**Author's Note:**

> Now... that's out of my system. Let me know what you think! *lol*


End file.
